Floor sander



April 27, 1954 B. P. BRIEN 2,676,438

FLOOR SANDER Filed Oct. 25, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR- ajle Peyi'an 5 1L221 BY fiITOR/VEY.

B. P. BRIEN FLOOR SANDER April 27, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 25, 1950 Patented Apr. 27, 1954 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,676,438 FLOOR SANDER Bailey P. Brien, Chattanooga, Tenn. Application October 25, 1950, Serial No. 192,069

2 Claims.

My invention relates to surfacing and leveling machines and more particularly to an arrangement for enabling the conventional drum sanding machine to be used in the uniform surfacing of wooden objects and other structures such as bowling alleys and the like.

The use of the well known drum sander for surfacing floors and bowling alleys is very common. However, certain problems have arisen, particularly in connection with its use on bowling alleys. Thes problems primarily result from the fact that no provision is made on the machine for guiding th operator in his attempts to make such a cut across the alley as will produce a uniform surface. Non-uniformity of the surface of the alley which the operator cannot accurately detect when using the machine to make the cut, movement of the sander across the surface at a non-uniform speed, causing it to make cuts which are deeper at some others, and differences in the hardness of the wood used in different parts of the alley frequent- 1y result in an uneven surface.

Some of these problems have been recognized in the prior art and attempts have been made to overcome or obviate the defects in the equipment and mode of operation. Generally these attempts have been directed towards mounting the drum in a built-up frame or carriage which rides in a horizontal plane on sets of tracks positioned at right angles to each other. Complicated and bulky structures of this type require a great deal of time to set up and remove and are slow in operation. See patent to Martin, 1,308,762. Other types use a drum sander with a drum sufliciently wide to substantially span the width of the bowling alley. Track is set in the gutters and the drum carrying frame is mounted to ride on the track. See patent to Muzzo, 2,206,671 and patent to Kirchner, 2,290,596.. It is, of course, not possibl to adapt the conventional drum sander to this arrangement without extensive alterations which prevent its use in the usual manner and for other purposes.

Applicant with a knowledge of all of these problems in the prior art has for an object of his invention the provision of an arrangement employing the conventional drum sander for uniformly finishing a surface.

Applicant has as another object of his invention the provision of a system for adapting a conventional drum sander to the uniform resurfacing of bowling alleys without material altera- .tion.

Applicant has as another objector his invenplaces than at tion the provision of a drum sander which is adapted to ride directly on the surface to be refinished and so arranged as to only remove the surface to a predetermined level.

Applicant has as another object of his invention the provision of a conventional drum sander which is adapted to ride directly upon the finished surface with an arrangement for limiting the level or depth of the out taken.

Applicant has as a further object of his invention the provision of an attachment for a conventional drum sander, adapted to travers the surface treated and to coact with a stop of uniform height for limiting the cut of the sander and provide a uniform surface.

Other objects and advantages of my invention will appear from the following specifications and accompanying drawings, and the novel features thereof will be particularly pointed out in the annexed claims.

in the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a conventional drum sanding machine employing my improved attachment and positioned on a bowling alley.

. Figure 2 is an end elevation of a bowlin alley, partly in section, showing the tracks employed in my improved attachment and the leveling device therefor.

Figure 3 is a cross-section of the cross-member and clamp of my attachment taken along the line 3-3 of Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a detail, partly in section, of my improved rail mounting shoe.

Figure 5 is a detail showing the connection between the cross member and a vertical arm, and,

Figur 6 is a sectional view taken along the line 6-6 of Figure 5.

Referring to the drawings in detail, I designates the frame of a conventional drum sanding machine such as the type CF-12 made by Porter Cable Machine Co., of Sandusky, Ohio. It includes a swinging carriage for raising and lowering the drum 2 with respect to the surface being operated upon in to the lever 3' nel shaped member 8 and the cross-member 9 is described more in detail hereinafter. Mounted through" the flanges of channel on the ends of the cross-member 9 are a pair of vertical arms l2 and I3. The lower ends of these arms are bifurcated or forked to receive rollers l4, l carried by shafts |6, H which bridge the prongs of the forks. The rollers l4, l5 are adapted to cooperate with rails l8, IQ for limiting the cut of the machine in traversing the surface of the alley 20,

The rails l8, l5 extend the length of the alley and are supported in the gutters IO, N by a series of spaced shoes positioned at intervals along each gutter. Each shoe, designated generally 2|, includes a base 3 with a substantially flat intermediate portion and upturned edges. The central portion is provided with a thickened wall having a screw-threaded bore 22 for the reception of the screw-threaded bolt 23. The upper end of the bolt 23 is also screw-threaded and is seated in a socket in the expansible clamp 24. A nut on the upper end of the abut the lower face of clamp 24 and is adjustable to raise or lower the clamp into proper position. The clamp 25 has an upper bifurcated portion which provides the jaws for the clamp and is adapted to receive a rail of substantially circular cross section. The clamp is contracted about the rail by a bolt 21 which bridges the jaws 28, 29. Studs 38, 3'! pass through threaded bores in the upturned ends of base 34 and adjustably en-'- gage the curved walls of the gutters l0 and H for leveling the track l8, l9. Nuts 32, 33 threaded on the studs 30, 3| engage the inner face of the base 34 and tend to lock the studs 30, 3| in adjusted position.

Arms i2 and adjustable mechanism such as shown in detail in Figures 5 and 6', wherein the upper extremity of arm i2 is formed into achannel shaped socket. Formed in the front wall of the socket is an elongated slot 35 adapted to loosely receive the body 1 of a stud 36 which passes therethrough and through an opening in saddle 31, said stud having threaded engagement with an opening in crossmember 9 which is seated in a recess 31' formed in the saddle 31. 38 which bears against the outer face of'the front wall of the channeled socket of arm l2 to lock the arm in adjusted position with respect to the cross-member 9 when the stud 36 is tightened.

The saddle 31 is slidable in the channel shaped socket of the arm l2 or l3 and at the upper end of each arm is an apertured, boss 39' in vertical alinement With the saddle. A screw-threaded bolt ill is mounted in the apertured boss 39 with its lower end surface of the saddle 31 and a bevel gear 4| is threadedly mounted on th upper end of the bolt at which meshes with a bevel gear 42 afiixed on an end of a shaft 43. lhe shaft 43"exten'ds l ongitudinally of the cross bar 9 in superposed relation thereto and is journaled in bearing brackets 63' attached to arms l2 and I3. A crank or other suitable means may be employed for turning shaft Q3 which through the bevel gears 4| and Q2 rotate the bolts 49 to adjust-the saddles 31 in the arms I2 and |3.

For the purpose of adjusting and supporting the cross-member 9 with respect to the sanding machine, the channel shaped member 8 is mounted on the carriage of the sanding machine through bracket 44 by bolts or other conventional means; v A series of studs 45, 45, '45, 45 pass shaped member 3 and engage the upper and lower edges ofth'e cross member 9. A retainer block 46 is mounted bolt serves to 3 are raised and lowered by an The stud '36 carries a washer in bearing contact with the upper a vertically across the channel in member 8 by screws 41 or other conventional means. The

block 46 also carries a clamping screw 48 which cooperates with studs 45, locked in place by looking nuts 39, for maintaining the cross-member 9 in adjusted position.

In use, the tracks l8 and i9 must first be placed in the proper elevation with respect to each other. This is accomplished in the manner and by the use of the tools disclosed in Figure 2 at 59. This tool is preferably comprised of a thin sheet of fiberboard, plywood, or lumber cut to the configuration indicated in th figure so that the lower edge 5| of the intermediate portion ofthe tool rests upon the surface of the alley and the lower edges 52, 52 of the reduced extremities of the tool rest upon the track rails |8, |9 when they are in proper adjustment. This adjustment is accomplished by raising and lowering the track through the studs 36, 3|, bolt 23, and clamp 24. In carrying out this operation the tool 56 is moved up and down the alley and th track may be leveled at intervals from a few inches to a few feet.

When the above procedure is completed, the arms |2, |3 are then adjusted with respect to cross-member ii to the depth of cut desired. Then clamping screw 68 and studs 45, 15 may be loosened and the sanding machine set at any desired position wtih respect to the two arms l2, I3 by simply sliding the cross-member 9 with respect to channel member 8. Thereafter, the clamping screw .8 and studs 15, 65 may be tightened to maintain the relation. However, as each cut is taken along the alley, a new adjustment of the arms i2, i3 and cross-member with respect to th channel member 8 and sanding machine must be made to enable the entire surface of the alley to be progressively covered by th machine, while keeping the arms and their rollers M, I5 in registration with the track l8, l9.

In operating the machine after the above adjustments have been made, the operator through the usual switch energizes the motor 4 and starts the drum 2 rotating. He then actuates lever 3' to lower the drum into engagement with the surface to be acted on and through the us of the handle 3 he moves the machine over the floor removing such surface; However, the depth of the cut taken by the drum is not determined by such factors as differences in the hardness of the materials of the floor, the speed at which it travers'es the surface, or even by the balance of force supplied to the handles. It is determined solely by the adjustment of the track l8, IS), the arms l2, l3 and the cross member 9. When the predetermined depth of out has been reached or accomplished, the rollers l l, l5 carried by arms l2, l3 move along the track l8, l9, as the machine is moved along the alley. This limits the downward movement of the carriage and in turn the downward movement of the drum 2 carried by it and insures an even precision cut for the entire surface of the alley. In this connection it will be understood that there may be instances where portions of the alley have worn These worn portions may be at the predetermined depth. In that event the sander will only remove the surface from the raised portions of the alley and'bring them all to the same level.

' Whilethe present description sets forth a preferred embodiment ofthe invention, changes may "be made in the construction without departing from the spirit of the invention and it is therefore desired that the present embodiment be conmore than others.

sidered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, reference being had to the appended claims rather than to the foregoing description to indicate th scope of the invention.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A sanding machine for bowling alleys comprising a rotatable sanding drum, a movable carriage supporting said drum for vertical movement towards and from the surface of the alley, longitudinal rails along each side of the alley, a channel member mounted on said carriage in a horizontal plane above said drum, a cross member slidably mounted in said channel member with its outer ends disposed above said rails, vertical arms at the outer ends of said cross member having rollers at their lower ends adapted to movably contact said rails, the upper ends of said arms each having a vertical channel with an apertured boss at the top, saddles slidably mounted in the channels of said arms connected to the outer ends of said cross member, screws mounted in the bosses of said channels having their lower ends in bearing contact with said saddles, bevel gears threaded on the upper ends of said screws, a rotatable shaft mounted above and extending parallel to said cross member having bevel gears at each end in mesh with the bevel gears of said screws for simultaneously raising and lowering said screws to vertically adjust said arms and means for locking said arms in adjusted position.

2. A sanding machine for bowling alleys comprising a rotatable sanding drum, a movable carriage supporting said drum for vertical movement towards and from the surface of the alley, longitudinal rails along each side of the alley, supports for said rails, each support including a base plate having upturned ends adapted to be positioned transversely of a gutter of said alley, screw studs mounted in the upturned ends of said base plate for adjusting the level of the base plate,

a bolt mounted vertically in the center of said base plate, a nut adjustable on the upper end of said bolt, an expansible clamp on the upper end of said bolt seated on said nut, said clamp having jaws on its upper end to receive and support said rails, a cross member slidably mounted on said carriage above said drum extending transversely of the alley with its outer ends dis posed above said rails, vertical arms at the outer ends of said cross member having rollers at their lower ends adapted to mevably contact said rails, means slidably connecting said arms to the outer ends of said cross member for vertical movement, screw studs mounted in the upper ends of said arms adjustable to raise and lower said arms with respect to said cross member, bevel gears on the upper ends of said last mentioned studs, a rotatable shaft mounted above and extending longitudinally of said cross member, and bevel gears mounted on the ends of said shaft in mesh with the gears of said studs whereby said studs are simultaneously adjusted upon rotation of said shaft.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 602,213 Dyer Apr. 12, 1898 800,962 Wattles Oct. 3, 1905 939,544 Pickard Nov. 9, 1909 1,308,762 Martin July 8, 1919 1,352,583 Clarke Sept. 14, 1920 1,667,684 Trimble Apr. 24, 1928 2,119,206 Frisz May 31, 1938 2,148,061 Emmons Feb. 21, 1939 2,206,671 Muzzo July 2, 1940 2,342,267 (Zion Feb. 22, 1944 2,402,888 Hall June 25, 1946 2,489,398 Bryan 1 Nov. 29, 1949 2,505,815 Wodetzky May 2, 1950 2,550,749 Zwoboda et a1 May 1, 1951 

